Chapter Text
" Don't even utter that name unless you want The Blood God to come after you."
"Don't say that! The Siren will kill you!"
"You can't even think about that! You know what the Angel of Death will do to you!"
~~
The Antarctic gang wasn't unknown. As a matter of fact, they were the complete opposite. You'd have to be around two months old to have not heard of them. They were feared and undefeated. People were scared to even utter their name.
But even though they were so famous, no one knew anything about them. All people knew was that they were dangerous. No one even knew their names, apart from the nicknames Blood God, Siren and Angel of Death. And those were just the well known ones. No one knew if anyone was helping them and if they were, who or how many people.
Even Tommy was absolutely terrified and knew nothing. Actually, Tommy was so terrified that he was one of the most careful thieves out there. Most that were relatively feared, thought they were so good they could deal with the Antarctic Gang or at least team with them.
Obviously, they didn't survive for very long.
Tommy, though he was probably the youngest and most feared thief out there, was probably the most sensible. About 0.1% of the time. But at least he wasn't trying to get in touch with The Antarctic Gang. At all. Whenever he even heard any conversations about them in the street, he'd just turn around and walk the other way.
So instead of trying to get in touch with them, here he was, stealing the bracelet of the president. President Schlatt. He'd started working for someone, well that's what he liked to call it anyway. It was probably more like he was being blackmailed. But saying that he worked for them felt a lot better.
This bracelet was priceless. Quite literally, as Tommy had no idea how much it was even worth. More money than he could ever dream of, probably. All he knew was that it was probably a lot. It's the president's bracelet. What should he expect? It's not like he could think about selling it instead anyway, he needed this. Well his boss needed it, and Tommy wasn't about to just disobey his boss.
Tommy couldn't just buy a new one of what his boss was holding captive. Well, technically he could but it just wouldn't be the same. That necklace had been given to him by his mother, he needed it back. That exact one. It still smelt like her as well. It gave Tommy the feeling of comfort.
Tommy shuffled through the vents, listening closely to the rusty creaks and groans from the metal. His plan was running through his head on repeat. All he had to do was find the end of the vent, get in, get out. Should be simple enough. Apart from the fact that Schlatt will be wearing the bracelet. Tommy knew he should've had a better plan but if he was being honest, he couldn't think of a good one. Or even a bad one. He couldn't think of a plan at all.
Tommy crawled forward slowly, weary that he may fall any second. He cringed every time the vents made a noise, scared someone may hear and if anyone had, they hadn't done anything. Yet.
Finally, he reached the end. Tommy looked through the gaps in the vent cover. Schlatt seemed to be working on some sort of document. Tommy couldn't read most of the writing but he could see that big bold "Pandora Prison" at the top. He remembered his boss mentioning something to do with that place at some point.
Tommy looked around where he was perched to see if there was anything he could use to help him. Maybe inspire an inner plan or something like that. Everything around him was just metal and it all seemed pretty intact and secure.
In the corner, was a slightly rusted pipe that was pointing at an angle. Tommy supposed if he pulled it in a certain way, he would be able to snap it off. Maybe he could use it as a weapon to make it easier to get the bracelet. Hit Schlatt in his stupid fucking head. In his little bitch face. It's not like he could use his spray paint can to do anything. Or his acting like an innocent child. It would be hard to believe he was an innocent child, he had broken in and Schlatt wasn't thick. He was a jerk but he knew what he was doing.
Tommy turned to the pole to see how he could possibly get a hold of it. The top was detached and the whole thing leaned to the right. The edges had all been rusted and the paint was peeling off all over, exposing the grey tube. Why the fuck was it painted in the first place? If it's in the vents, no one's going to see it! Well, apart from people like Tommy. Tommy thought if he bent it further to the right, then quickly twisted it to the left in one quick movement he could possibly disconnect the pipe.
He sat back on his knees, so he was no longer on all fours, and reached his hands up to the middle of the pole and swiftly jolted it so it snapped directly at the bottom. It made quite a loud noise, so Tommy sat still for what felt like a few minutes at least just in case Schlatt had heard.
Tommy peered down to Schlatt to see where he was. Schlatt was no longer at his desk, but instead across the room talking to another man. The man was dressed in a uniform, probably one that people working for Schlatt wore.
"Take this to my safe. I'd hate for people to get to my files, especially the Pandora ones." Schlatt instructed, handing the files over.
"The file safe or the money safe sir?" The other man asked, his face looking bored.
Ok, why the fuck would someone ask that? Are you blind it's a fucking file?
"Of course the file safe you idiotic bastard! Why would I put this one in the money safe!?"
"I always have to check sir." The man's face looked seemingly unfazed by Schlatt's outburst and he turned around to leave.
Whoever this guy is seriously has to have been working for Schlatt for their whole fucking life. Anyone else would be absolutely shitting themselves at that. Well apart from Tommy of course, big men don't get scared. Totally.
Schlatt walked back over to his desk and sat back down. He took another document from the pile and started what looked like reading it. Tommy took this as his opportunity to strike. He grabbed the pipe by the middle and jumped down from the vent, not even attempting to be careful.
"Hey, bitch!" Tommy shouted as he landed on the ground. Schlatt turned to look at Tommy.
"Who the fuck are you!? And take off your mask this inst-" He was cut off by Tommy whacking the pole down onto Schlatt's head, not too hard that the injury was fatal, but hard enough that he fell unconscious.
Tommy waited a few seconds just to be sure that Schlatt was actually passed out before lifting up his arm to search for the bracelet. Just as he'd expected, the jewellery hung slightly above his wrist on his left arm. It looked like a golden halo covered in blunt golden thorns. At the front of the bracelet, was a sapphire that glistened in even pitch black and looked like it had always been polished less than an hour ago. Tommy wouldn't be surprised if it had.
He slowly lifted the bracelet off of his arm and placed it in his palm. Tommy just stared at it for what felt like a few minutes, admiring it. Then, he finally clutched it tightly in his hand and went to fetch his spray can. Using it, he spray painted his signature Theseus mark on the wall, letting people know he'd been there. He then clambered back up into the vent, leaving the pipe but taking the bracelet and crawled through again.
~~
"Breaking news, earlier today it seems as if the well known thief, Theseus, has struck again. President Schlatt was found unconscious in his office with a pipe next to him and the Theseus mark on one of the walls. His bracelet also seemed to have been missing and we think that's what Theseus must've stolen. Please be careful, as we don't know what his intentions are or what he plans on doing next. We think the pipe was what was used to-"
Tommy's TV glitched again and shut itself down. He didn't know what he expected really, it was really old and he'd found it whilst dumpster diving in the rubbish like most of the things he owned. Even his clothes and bed came out of there. Even his plates and cups. It's why most were chipped.
Somehow after only 3 hours of him stealing the bracelet it had already been reported on the news. Tommy didn't find it all that surprising if he was being honest, Schlatt probably had staff checking in on him every few minutes. It's kind of what happens when you're the president and stuff.
Also because the crime had involved himself. Every time someone was robbed by Theseus, even if it was just some random civilian's house, it appeared on the news. Probably because he was the most feared thief. Maybe if it had been some random dude, the news would just say his bracelet was stolen and not go into further detail. But every little piece of information the government or police got of Theseus was basically leaked. He was dangerous and a thief, the police were desperate to catch him.
Any signs of where he had been or who he'd robbed was always known by the whole population by the end of the day. Tommy found it amusing when he'd just robbed a random house for money or food, deciding to leave his Theseus mark just for the fun of it. He couldn't help but laugh when he watched the news that day and the reporters and police were trying to work out if he had something against the family or if this was part of some big plan everyone thought he had.
Everyone thought he had some genius plan. That on one random day he was suddenly going to strike, that everything he stole was for supplies or power. In reality, Tommy just stole everything for either his boss, or to survive. He'd just decided to start leaving a mark for fun. He'd also decided to start robbing more crazy places like Schlatt's mansion for a challenge. It just ended up somehow making a name for himself. Not that he minded, it was better to be feared.
Tommy had given the bracelet to his boss who'd seemed more than pleased with him. His boss had hugged him and encouraged him, just like he always did. Though Tommy knew it wasn't true and it was just false kindness his boss would later crush, he still wanted to believe it. It still felt good. He yearned for it. Maybe that's because it's the only good interaction Tommy really got, but he wasn't really sure.
All Tommy now had to do was get the documents and the skeleton key to Pandora prison. The documents that his boss wanted sounded a lot like the ones he'd seen earlier so at least he already knew where they were. And as for the key, he could just find a way to steal it at the grand opening. Simple.
But right now, Tommy had to focus on starting the hardest mission that day. Finding decent food he could eat.
~~
"Theseus stole Schlatt's bracelet. Haven't our thieves been trying to do that for four months now?"
"I think so. And it seems like this was his first attempt."
"Why don't you seem even the slightest bit worried? Do you not think if Theseus ever teamed up with someone, he might become more powerful than us?"
"I highly doubt that would happen."
"But if it did? What would we even do?"
"Why don't we prevent it? You say he's better than any of our thieves. By the sounds of it much better. Why don't we make him one of our thieves? Let's find and recruit this 'Theseus'."